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Former vice president later says he was too 'cavalier' about black Trump backers

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Updated: 10:28 PM CDT May 22, 2020

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OFFICIALS TO SHARE SOME OF THE LESSONS HE LEARNED IN NEW YORK. BREAKING COMMITMENT 2020 NEWS TONIGHT. FORMER VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN SAYS IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN WHETHER HE’LL ATTEND THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION IN PERSON. BIDEN HELD A VIRTUAL TOWN HALL THIS AFTERNOON HIS CAMPAIGN PEGGED IT AS A MILWAUKEE RALLY. HE WAS INTRODUCED BY MILWAUKEE MAYOR TOM BARRETT AND CONGRESSWOMAN GWEN MOORE BEFORE THAT HE TALKED WITH 12 NEWS’ MATT SMITH. MATT, HIS COMMENT ABOUT THE CONVENTION COULD BE A SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT. >> JUST LAST WEEK, CONVENTION ORGANIZERS SAID THEY ARE PREPARING FOR JOE BIDEN TO ACCEPT THE NOMINATION HERE. THAT IS NOW ONE OF SEVERAL OPTIONS AS THE PARTY PREPARES FOR A POTENTIAL VIRTUAL CONVENTION. IS IT REALISTIC YOU WILL BE AT FISERV FORUM ACCEPTING THE NOMINATION? >> WELL ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT HAPPENS. IF WE HAVE, WHAT THE SCIENTISTS TELL US, WHAT THE EXPERTS TELL US AT THE TIME. I THINK IT IS POSSIBLE, BUT IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN. I WISH I HAD A CRYSTAL BALL WHAT IT WAS LIKELY TO BE. >> THE REVELATION COMES AS CONVENTION ORGANIZERS ARE PREPARING FOR A NUMBER OF CONTINGENCY PLANS AND FOR DELEGATES TO VOTE REMOTELY. CONVENTION COMMITTEE CEO J SOLMOENSE LAST WEEK. DO YOU THINK JOE BIDEN WILL PHYSICALLY BE HERE? >> I DO. ONE OF THE THINGS THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN EXCITED ABOUT IS WE CHOSE WISCONSIN. >> WE’VE HEARD FROM A NUMBER OF DELEGATES SAYING THEY DON’T FEEL COMFORTABLE COMING HERE ANYMORE FOR THE CONVENTION. WILL YOU BE HERE IN MILWAUKEE? >> I PLAN ON CAMPAIGNING IN MILWAUKEE AND I HOPE THERE IS A CONVENTION IN MILWAUKE IT MAY NOT BE AS ROBUST A CONVENTION. IT MAY BE A SOCIAL DISTANCING THING. IT MAY BE SMALLER. I DON’T KNOW. BUT I CAN’T ORDAIN WHAT THAT’S GOING TO BE, BUT I PLAN TO CAMPAIGN IN MILWAUKE JOYCE: INTERESTING ACCESS YOU HAD. MATT, DID BIDEN GIVE ANY HINTS INTO A POTENTIAL VICE PRESIDENTIAL PICK? >> YES, SENATOR TAMMY BALDWIN’S NAME HAS APPEARED ON SOME LISTS. BUT TODAY BIDEN WOUDLN’T SAY WHO IS ON HIS LIST OR WHO THE CAMPAIGN IS CURRENTLY VENTING,

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Biden: If you can't choose me over Trump, ‘you ain’t black’

Former vice president later says he was too 'cavalier' about black Trump backers

Related video above: Joe Biden: 'Remains to be seen' whether he'll attend DNC in personJoe Biden declared he “should not have been so cavalier” on Friday after he told a prominent black radio host that African Americans who back President Donald Trump “ain’t black.”Charlamagne Tha God pressed Biden on reports that he is considering Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is white, to be vice president and told him black voters "saved your political life in the primaries" and "have things they want from you."“I’m not acknowledging anybody who is being considered,” Biden said. “But I guarantee you there are multiple black women being considered. Multiple.”A Biden aide then sought to end the interview, prompting the host to say, “You can't do that to black media.”Biden responded, “I do that to black media and white media” and said his wife needed to use the television studio.He then added: “If you’ve got a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or for Trump, then you ain’t black.”The host countered that conversations about Biden’s running mate aren’t about President Donald Trump, whom many black voters view as racist.“Take a look at my record,” Biden said, citing his work as senator to extend the Voting Rights Act of 1965. “The NAACP has endorsed me every time I’ve run. Come on, take a look at my record.” The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee quickly moved to address the fallout from his remark. In a call with the U.S. Black Chamber of Commerce, added to his initial public schedule, Biden said he would never “take the African American community for granted.”“I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy,” Biden said. “No one should have to vote for any party based on their race or religion or background.”The rebukes spanned from allies of Trump's reelection campaign — anxious to go on offense after weeks of defending the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic — to some black activists, who warned that Biden still must to court black votes, even if African Americans do overwhelmingly oppose the president.“None of us can afford for the party or for this campaign to mess this election up, and comments like these are the kinds that frankly either make black voters feel like we’re not really valued and people don’t care if we show up or not,” said Alicia Garza, a Black Lives Matter co-founder and principal of Black Futures Lab.Biden has emphasized his relationship with black voters, noting throughout the campaign his dependence on black voters in his Delaware Senate races and his partnership as President Barack Obama’s top lieutenant.Black voters helped resurrect Biden’s campaign in this year's primaries with a second place finish in the Nevada caucuses and a resounding win in the South Carolina primary after he’d started with embarrassing finishes in overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire.Older black voters especially sided with Biden over a wide Democratic field that included several black candidates, including Kamala Harris. The California senator is believed to be a contender for the vice-presidential nomination. Other prominent black women mentioned include Georgia voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Florida Rep. Val Demings, Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge and Susan Rice, Obama's former U.S. ambassador to the U.N.Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to Biden, said his parting comment in Friday's interview was “made in jest."“Let’s be clear about what the VP was saying,” Sanders tweeted. “He was making the distinction that he would put his record with the African American community up against Trump’s any day. Period.”Trump's campaign seized on Biden’s comments on Friday.“He truly believes that he, a 77-year-old white man, should dictate how Black people should behave,” said Katrina Pierson, a senior advisor to Trump’s campaign.The president has a history of incendiary rhetoric related to race.When he launched his presidential campaign in 2015, Trump called many Mexican immigrants “rapists.” In 2017, he said there good people on “both sides” of the clash in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacists and anti-racist demonstrators that left one counter-protester dead.Last year, during a private White House meeting on immigration, Trump wondered why the United States was admitting so many immigrants from “shithole countries” like African nations. He also blasted four Democratic congresswomen of color, saying they hate America and should “go back” to where they come from, even though all are U.S. citizens and three were born in the U.S.

Joe Biden declared he “should not have been so cavalier” on Friday after he told a prominent black radio host that African Americans who back President Donald Trump “ain’t black.”

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Charlamagne Tha God pressed Biden on reports that he is considering Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is white, to be vice president and told him black voters "saved your political life in the primaries" and "have things they want from you."

“I’m not acknowledging anybody who is being considered,” Biden said. “But I guarantee you there are multiple black women being considered. Multiple.”

A Biden aide then sought to end the interview, prompting the host to say, “You can't do that to black media.”

Biden responded, “I do that to black media and white media” and said his wife needed to use the television studio.

He then added: “If you’ve got a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or for Trump, then you ain’t black.”

The host countered that conversations about Biden’s running mate aren’t about President Donald Trump, whom many black voters view as racist.

“Take a look at my record,” Biden said, citing his work as senator to extend the Voting Rights Act of 1965. “The NAACP has endorsed me every time I’ve run. Come on, take a look at my record.”

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee quickly moved to address the fallout from his remark. In a call with the U.S. Black Chamber of Commerce, added to his initial public schedule, Biden said he would never “take the African American community for granted.”

“I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy,” Biden said. “No one should have to vote for any party based on their race or religion or background.”

The rebukes spanned from allies of Trump's reelection campaign — anxious to go on offense after weeks of defending the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic — to some black activists, who warned that Biden still must to court black votes, even if African Americans do overwhelmingly oppose the president.

“None of us can afford for the party or for this campaign to mess this election up, and comments like these are the kinds that frankly either make black voters feel like we’re not really valued and people don’t care if we show up or not,” said Alicia Garza, a Black Lives Matter co-founder and principal of Black Futures Lab.

Biden has emphasized his relationship with black voters, noting throughout the campaign his dependence on black voters in his Delaware Senate races and his partnership as President Barack Obama’s top lieutenant.

Black voters helped resurrect Biden’s campaign in this year's primaries with a second place finish in the Nevada caucuses and a resounding win in the South Carolina primary after he’d started with embarrassing finishes in overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire.

Older black voters especially sided with Biden over a wide Democratic field that included several black candidates, including Kamala Harris. The California senator is believed to be a contender for the vice-presidential nomination. Other prominent black women mentioned include Georgia voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Florida Rep. Val Demings, Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge and Susan Rice, Obama's former U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to Biden, said his parting comment in Friday's interview was “made in jest."

“Let’s be clear about what the VP was saying,” Sanders tweeted. “He was making the distinction that he would put his record with the African American community up against Trump’s any day. Period.”

Trump's campaign seized on Biden’s comments on Friday.

“He truly believes that he, a 77-year-old white man, should dictate how Black people should behave,” said Katrina Pierson, a senior advisor to Trump’s campaign.

The president has a history of incendiary rhetoric related to race.

When he launched his presidential campaign in 2015, Trump called many Mexican immigrants “rapists.” In 2017, he said there good people on “both sides” of the clash in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacists and anti-racist demonstrators that left one counter-protester dead.

Last year, during a private White House meeting on immigration, Trump wondered why the United States was admitting so many immigrants from “shithole countries” like African nations. He also blasted four Democratic congresswomen of color, saying they hate America and should “go back” to where they come from, even though all are U.S. citizens and three were born in the U.S.